What Lurks in Shadows
by Sora no Kioku's old account
Summary: Riku is said to be obsessed with him. He had stalked him in the beginning, too afraid to confront him. But when he does, it's not on his own terms. What he doesn't realize is that his infatuation may be because of Sora's mysterious past and social status. Discontinued.


_AN: Yes, I am aware that this first chapter sounds a lot like Twilight. However, it is no way inspired by the book series by Stephanie Meyer. (I haven't even read the books and I've watched the movie only once and hated it, for crying out loud.) There are reasons behind the main character's actions and thoughts, which will become clear in later chapters. Yes, this has the same title as another story that I had up. However, I didn't like how the other story was coming out, so I let this story adopt its title. This one, I'm actually pretty okay with so far. I don't know how long it will be or if I'll continue it in the later chapters, but for now, here's this. I hope you enjoy the RiSo-ness of this. If there are any mistakes or if something's confusing, please **message** them to me and I'll fix it. You may add it in the reviews if you like, but I prefer the message way instead._

_Mature content for some language, lots of violence, and sexual themes later on. (However, do not expect lemon scenes from me. Because of my disinterest in sex, I will not be writing those out and will instead skip them. I myself believe that vampires are sexual creatures, therefore sexual activity will be referenced and mentioned in this fanfiction.)_

_Note: There will be Sora X Riku and Axel X Roxas in here, along with other various pairings._

* * *

Aquamarine eyes watched carefully from the rooftops, watching as the many people from below walked without knowing he was ever there. Nobody would even dare to look up where he was. For all they knew, this place was vacant and inaccessible. Not even the most agile of humans could reach where he was. A small sigh escaped as the silver-haired male leaned back with his arms as his support, his lanky yet muscled legs dangling over the ledge. Despite how the ground below was about ten stories away and night had crept upon the city, he could see each and every detail as if it were in broad daylight. Sure, it had the bluish black tint of night, but he could still see clearly. He wasn't bothered by this fact, for the most part, though he was a bit aggravated with it as well. 'Why have the eyesight of an eagle if there's nothing to watch?' he would always ask the one he called his father. Of course, his 'father' would always roll his eyes and continue whatever he was doing. Usually that was reading a book or polishing a sword, but no matter what he was doing, he always made it look as if he was the busiest man on Earth. He always did that to make sure that no one bothered him.

These thoughts lingered in his mind for who knows how long. All he knew was that during the time he had been sitting there, thinking, many lights have gone out in the tall apartment building in front of him. Each thought led onto the next and before he knew it, he was thinking about hippos. How he had gotten to the topic of hippos, he would never know – nor did he want to know. He did, however, finally stop his thinking process when he came to realize that the streets below him were rather quiet by now as night had settled in at its fullest. He tilted his body forward to look over the edge with no fear of falling. His eyes lingered on a few select people as they walked by without an upwards glance, none of them catching his interest. He did, however, let out a small chuckle as he spotted a drunk couple walking along the road. Their useless and slurred chatter amused him, hearing every single word. But oh how it bored him.

The chatter was always the same. The woman always kept talking about how much fun – or lack of fun – she had at the bar while the man kept trying to get the woman to his room. Though their methods and speech pattern were always different, it was always the same topic. Usually with these types of couples, they had met on the same night the man planned on getting inside the woman's pants. He was pretty sure that in the morning, the couple would wonder what the hell had happened and one of them would probably figure out that they had, in their overly drunken state, divorced the one they had married and threw the ring away. Either that or one of them realizes that the other was in fact married or had a boyfriend or girlfriend. Either way, it was quite amusing.

Once the drunken couple was inside, the silver-haired male found himself yet again bored out of his mind. He didn't have anywhere to go and his 'father' was out, visiting family. Though he was supposed to tag along as well, the bored male had snuck out at the last moment and came here to watch as people passed, even if the number of people was dwindling. Even in a big city like this, there were certain streets that went dead silent at night. It was always the crowded streets full of restaurants and stores that stayed lit and rather noisy, which was why he strayed away from those streets. He preferred places where he would actually listen into conversations that won't hurt his head when he tried to focus in on just one.

Why he had chosen this particular spot? Well, that was rather easy. He wasn't just sitting here, waiting for no one. Sure, he was avoiding the wrath of his 'father' for ditching out at the last moment, but it wasn't the reason he had chosen _this_ street, let alone this building. The answer for this question, as he soon noticed, quietly walked down the darkened street, the streetlamps being the only thing lighting their way. A gentle smile lingering on his lips, the silver-haired male leaned over with his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together loosely. Though his father had forbid him to do this plenty of times before, he still did. He didn't know why he liked to watch this one person, but ever since he had been drawn to this particular street on one night and found this 'target', as he called it, walking down the lonely street, he had been rather attracted and wanted to learn more about the other. The only way he could do that without getting directly involved was by watching and learning.

Just by simple gestures and how the other walked, he could tell so much about the brunette. Though their hair was spiked in a rather odd fashion, it was brushed every day and actually styled that way. The other would sometimes stop and listen, as if he was listening to the sounds around him. He would sometimes look around, giving the sense of paranoia. However, with the expression on his face, it always seemed like curiosity. He didn't seem to be afraid of much, as much as the silver-haired male could tell. Rather, he was curious about everyone and everything.

His smile turned into an amused one as he watched the brunette slow to a stop and look around. Ah, it was a classic. It always started when the wind picked up. If he was a fool, he would assume that the other could smell him like he could smell the cinnamon-like scent when the wind blew in his direction. However, he seemed to be a mere mortal. There was no way he could possibly notice where he was – or that he was ever there in the first place. No human had ever accomplished this task. He always hid where no human could see, where no human would look. He made sure of that. Feeling the wind pick up again, he watched as the brunette carefully looked around, the moonlight softly reflecting off of round skin.

Only when the other looked up did his smile fade and he sat up strait in surprise. Ocean blue eyes locked with his and merely just stared at him. Not only did the color of the eyes surprise him, but the soul behind them. Despite the curious expression, the eyes showed so much more. It almost made the silver-haired male want to just jump down and hold the boy close and tell him that everything would be alright and every question he had will soon be answered. It seemed that it was the one thing the brunette wanted, judging by everything he could see behind those blue eyes. The urge tugged at him, but his body remained frozen where he sat.

Couldn't he say something...? No. He couldn't possibly. Even if this was the first time their eyes had met, he couldn't do anything. If he had spoken, the other wouldn't hear. If he had smiled, the other wouldn't see. If he had jumped down... The other would be overly suspicious and he would finally see the frightened side. Many options ran through his mind, all of them way too fast for him to even begin to comprehend. He could make out only a few of them, but he knew that he couldn't do what his thoughts were suggesting. His body acting on its own, he stood up when he saw a gentle smile finally come to the brunette's lips. It was warm and inviting, but something about it just seemed... fake. It wasn't a real smile. How he knew that, he couldn't tell.

Without another thought, he turned around and quickly dashed to the middle of the roof, where he knew that no one could see him at all. He lifted his hand up to his chest and felt for something – anything. Nothing. He let out a small sigh and lowered his hand. Wishful thinking. That's all he could think of. He was always wishing. Wishing that the boy he watched would notice him, wishing that he wasn't the way he was, wishing that he could actually hold a normal conversation. Unfortunately for him, those weren't any wishes that could come true. Walking back to the ledge, he looked down with one hand in his pocket. He watched as the apartment building's door swung silently closed. The whole street was empty. Aquamarine eyes slid closed. He had missed his first and only chance. Now he had to head back and face the wrath of his 'father'.

l_~*~*~_l

There was only silence all around. Not even a single breath could be heard inside of the room. Despite this, a young boy laid in the middle of the large bed, looking up towards his ceiling. Thoughts swarmed his mind as his right forearm crossed over his forehead, his other arm laying across his stomach. He had been right; he did have to face the wrath of his father. It was because he had gone out to watch that boy again that he was confined to his room. The door was locked and the windows were barred. With the material the whole house was made of, not even the strongest of his race could break free. One of their loyal assassins had proved this fact with a demonstration. But oh, how he hated it in here. All because he had watched that brunette he was so infatuated with...

A small sigh escaped his cracked lips as he let his eyelids meet, complete darkness coming into his vision. The only thing he could think of were those bright blue eyes and the soft smile. Why hadn't be smiled back? Why hadn't he gone down to talk? He knew that the brunette probably couldn't hear him if he talked, but what if he shouted? Surely he would hear him then. He could've told him "Wait there and I'll be down." But what did he do? He turned and walked away. He walked away from his only chance at actually talking to this... stranger. And now he was locked in this room for who knows how long. _'However long he remains angry at me, I guess,'_ he thought idly as he opened his eyes again. No matter what he did, he couldn't seem to sleep.

Sitting up with his arms as his support, he looked over at the window. He remained completely silent as he watched the darkened sky turn into yellow and pink colors, squinting his eyes at the harsh sunlight. He stood up after the sun had lifted itself from the horizon and walked over to the window, looking out at the forest that stood near the house. Though it didn't hurt to be in sunlight, it sure did bother his eyes to the point that he had a migraine. He grabbed the heavy red curtains and pulled them closed, looking back at his room. Oh, how he loved these curtains. With dim light of the rising sun coming through, the room had a dark red tint to it. When it was at the highest point in the sky, the whole room had a red tint to it, but not enough to bother his eyes. Even if it did, he could pull the black curtains over it to make the room pitch black.

Even if he did love these curtains, he wished for his old room back. This room wasn't even his to begin with. This was where his 'father' would lock up any of the 'children' who had disobeyed him too many times – and the silver-haired male had definitely disobeyed him. In fact, he had disobeyed him so much, he had lost count of how many times he had. He couldn't help it; he wanted to see the brunette and learn more about him. However, it was only every other Saturday that he could find him walking down the street like that. He wanted to see where he went, but couldn't because he always got there too late and couldn't spot him through the crowd. Even when he did, he couldn't follow.

But what if he had been able to follow? And what if he was caught in the act of following him? What could he possibly say? There was no way he would be able to get out of that... There was no excuse for following someone around like that. He sighed lightly as this thought came to mind. _'It's hopeless...'_ he thought as he turned away from the curtains and walked over to the bed he could call his own for now. Well, at least until his 'father' wasn't angry at him anymore. Then he could get his room back... He sat down on the bed and fell backward, looking up at the ceiling again, This time, though, his arms crossed his stomach and his hands gently held each elbow.

He laid there only for a moment before he finally rolled over and crawled the rest of the way onto the bed, laying his head down on the pillow. He paused for a moment before he buried his face into pillow and breathed deeply, letting the scent of fresh linen fill his nose. "At least it's clean," he said as he rolled onto his side, his back facing the window. He allowed his eyes to close as he tried to sleep, though he found that he couldn't. Though he wasn't thinking about the blue-eyed boy anymore, he was thinking about what he would do about food. Would his 'father' actually send a servant up to give him his daily supply or would he have to survive without food? If he had to survive without food, how long would it be? The more he thought about it, the more worried he grew. What if he never got food or if he was forgotten about...? No, he wouldn't be forgotten. Many of the servants knew him and their hired assassins were actually quite fond of him. There was no way that they would just forget about him like that. With that thought settled, he moved onto another, more disturbing thought... Who the hell had the key?

He let out a deep sigh and shook his head, clearing his mind of the thoughts. There was no need for those. He would have to worry about that for another time. For now, it was best to get some sleep. He hadn't, after all, slept at all last night. He was supposed to be asleep before the sun rose, but here he was, lying in bed and just thinking. Keeping his mind blank, he finally dozed off. However, he was only half asleep and slowly leaning forward. With a shout, he scooted back as quickly as he could, but paused when he realized he was in fact not falling; it was just a dream. Groaning, he tried yet again to go to sleep.

However, it seems like odd were against him. Opening his eyes as he heard a click of a lock, he noticed the door swing open slowly and silently. He sat up and focused his attention on the one who unlocked the door, watching as two small blonds walked into the room. He sighed lightly and fell back onto the bed, rolling over onto his side so that his back faced them. "What do you want?" he asked with a frown. Usually when assassins visited, it wasn't a very good sign... Especially when you're locked in a room such as this. Sure, he knew that his 'father' wouldn't kill him, but it was still a bad sign. Why they were here, well, he could only guess.

"Is that what you're going to say to someone who's going to let you out, Riku?" he heard. He quickly sat up at this and looked back at the two blonds, though one turned on his heel and walked back out. The remaining blond looked over at the silver-haired male, his blue eyes looking through the darkness. Only then did the male named 'Riku' realize that his were almost the same shade of the ones he had seen only the night before. He hesitated a bit before he let out a small sigh and looked away, hearing footsteps draw closer soon after.

"It's that boy again, isn't it? The one you've been watching?"

Riku hesitated again before he finally looked at the blond, feeling the bed shift as the other sat down. He nodded slowly, pulling his legs to him so that he could cross them. He didn't know why, but he couldn't help but to cross them. It was a habit of his and he knew it would stick with him. He watched as the younger male leaned back with his hands as support. This, he knew, was a habit of the blond's. Even when around those superior to him, he was casual and relaxed. That was also a good thing as long as he was around the right people. Many would take this offensively and strike at the blond. However, Riku wasn't the type to randomly attack someone for having a casual appearance. In fact, he actually liked it. He didn't want to make himself look like he was better than others.

A few minutes of silence slipped by with the older one playing with his pant leg and the younger one staring at the wall in front of him. Why he didn't just get up and leave by now, Riku wasn't quite sure. The door was wide open and the blond was clearly letting him leave. He should've taken advantage of this. Then again... It wasn't too late. He sighed softly and reached over to pat the blond's shoulder before he stood up. 'Thank you, Roxas, but I need some sleep. If you don't mind, I'll go to my room now," he said as he made his way towards the door. He stopped, however, when he felt someone grab the sleeve of the long-sleeved shirt he wore. He turned to look back at the blond, who frowned at him.

"You're not going anywhere. You may be of a higher status most of the time, but in here, we're on equal terms. You're going to tell me what happened this time around," Roxas replied stubbornly. It was only one of his habits when it came to curiosity. Whenever he was curious; he didn't really show it. Instead, he just demanded things from others, especially information. He had done the same thing when Riku had purchased a cell phone. With a frown on his face, Riku lightly pulled his arm away from Roxas. Only after a moment's hesitation did he sit down and explain everything that had happened. Roxas had sat down not too long after and listened with interest, humming lightly in thought when the 'story' was over.

Finally, the blond nodded and smiled a bit before he shrugged. "Well, at least it's not _that_ bad. I'm pretty sure you'll have a chance to talk to him again. I mean, you know where he lives and he knows you exist," he replied. He studied the frown that came to Riku's face and knew instantly what he was thinking, though he was no mind reader. He sighed heavily and shook his head, reaching over to pat Riku's shoulder. "Here, I'll tell you what. In order for you not to get caught, I'll let you out tonight, when Lord Rufus is at a dinner party. As long as you're back before sunrise, you should be fine. We may be vampires, Riku, but it'll still feel like an eternity before you're able to find someone you're this interested in." After he explained this, he stood up and took the key out of his pocket. He twirled it around his finger just to show Riku that it was in fact real before he slid it back into its place. With that done, he walked over to the door and walked out, leaving Riku alone in the room with his thoughts.

l_~*~*~_l

Over the course of the next week, Riku tried time and time again to actually talk to the brunette. He had even leaned against the apartment building the brunette lived in and waited. Each and every day, he would see him and try to speak to him, only to fail and end up running off. Thankfully, Rufus had released him from cell-like room on the second night so that he didn't have to keep relying on Roxas to get him out. He knew that the blonde would get fed up with him pretty quickly, considering that the process had already begun. Still, he couldn't gain enough courage to even ask the brunette his name. He had, however, learned exactly which apartment he lived in.

Climbing the flights of stairs up to the third floor, he walked down the hallway with one hand in his pocket. He knew where he was going. He just didn't know if he really wanted to go there. He didn't even know if the brunette was there. He slowed to a stop as he came to the door with the number 314 on it, looking at the door intently before he finally lifted his hand and knocked on the wood. Only a moment later and he knew for sure that the brunette wasn't home. He sighed softly and kneeled down, taking out a small pouch and pulling it open. He reached his hand inside and pulled out a bobby pin. He carefully picked the lock and only when he heard a click did he stand up and tied a string on the door. He pushed it open and looked inside the dark room.

He knew that he couldn't go inside, but at least he could see inside once his eyes adjusted. He just needed to make sure that he kept the string on so that he could still close the door. However, nothing could prepare him for what he saw. His eyes widened as his eyes took in the sight of many paintings and drawings scattered across the apartment. But that wasn't what surprised him the most. The painting he couldn't take his eyes away from was one that looked unfinished and was still glistening. Even from this far away, he could smell the oil paint used to create it. He could make out the details of a pencil sketch on the canvas, looking over the whole scene.

A lone figure stood atop a tall building with a moon behind him. Silver hair reflected the moonlight and even though it was dark, the features of the face could still be seen. Surprisingly, it looked exactly like the silver-haired male standing in the doorway. A look of surprise was on the figure's face, but the eyes, not colored in just yet, were staring strait at the viewer. He had never known the brunette did anything like this... He had just seen certain aspects of the brunette, but never this. He quietly cursed himself with a small frown. How could he have not known? He paused as he realized that he had had never seen any callouses on the brunette's hands, but there were always some type of paint smeared on his fingers or even his clothes at points. Hell, there was even white paint smeared on the boy's face. That should've given it away. But why didn't it occur to Riku that the boy was a painter?

Riku let out a deep sigh as he reached up and ran his hand through his hair, closing his eyes momentarily. He paused as the faint scent of cinnamon came to his nose, though he dismissed it as the scent coming from the room. Only when he heard a voice asking what he was doing in a curious yet defensive tone had he realized that the scent was coming from somewhere else. He opened his eyes, startled enough to actually drop the string in his hand. He looked over to where he heard the voice to see the brunette with a brown bag in his arms. He looked back towards the open door, his stomach twisting when he realized that he couldn't grab the string. He soon focused his gaze back on the brunette and shook his head, backing away a bit.

"I, uh... I..." he said, though he couldn't come up with anything more. What the hell was he supposed to say? 'I wanted to know more about you, so I picked your lock and looked inside your apartment?' He couldn't possibly say that. He murmured a small apology before he quickly turned on his heel and darted in the opposite direction, intent to get away as fast as he could. He could hear someone shouting after him, but ignored it and tore open the door to the stairs. He felt the door rip off its top hinges and just left it hanging there, knowing he couldn't fix it anyway. He nearly tumbled down the stairs as he ran, but soon made it to the bottom. He stopped and looked back to see the brunette rounding the corner and heading down the stairs after the silver-haired male. He took off running again, ignoring the shouts yet again for him to stop. He ran out of the stairwell and out of the apartment building, out onto the streets. He glanced up at the sky to judge where the moon was, sighing lightly when he realized he still had quite a few hours of darkness left. Good. Now he didn't have to worry about that.

Thankfully, the brunette had stopped yelling for him to stop, knowing that nobody could snatch him and stop him from running now. For all the people knew, the brunette could be at fault. He darted down the street and then around a corner before he dived into an alleyway and then through an open door of an empty building, quickly crawling around and pressing his back against the wall. The only footsteps he could hear were running footsteps, though they slowed. Well, at least now he knew that he would be safe here. Humans couldn't possibly find him here... He let out a gentle sigh of relief when he heard the other walking away, but paused when he heard him come back. He listened to the footsteps follow the path he had taken, pressing himself up against the wall even more.

He silently pleaded for the brunette not to look for him, but those thoughts soon vanished when he heard something move inside the bar. He peered through the darkness and looked around what looked like the remains of a bar, seeing something slide by between a gap in the bar table across the large room. He silently stood up carefully, keeping his eyes on the bar table. He heard what sounded like a mix between a human's snore, a dog's growl, and a rattlesnake's rattle come from behind the bar table, though it was low. Soon after, he heard something that sounded like a low rumbling, though it seemed to be relatively the same noise he heard, but as if something was in the way. "Stop running from me!" he heard from his left, making him jump and look over with wide eyes. He soon saw something lunge from the shadows with a hiss and tackle the brunette, pushing both the unknown creature and the brunette out of the door.

Acting quickly, the silver-haired male ran out of the building and watched as the brunette kicked at the beast that hovered over him, his hands pushing against the neck. Snapping jaws filled with teeth that could shred through even the toughest of skin were only centimeters away from his face, though it did manage to scrape some of the skin with its teeth. The silver-haired vampire knew instantly what this was. Though it was small, he could tell each and every little detail, from the blood red eyes to the leathery dark brown skin with various lighter markings that swirled around its lanky arms and ended at the proportionality hands made up of solely large claws. Thick, muscular legs rippled in anticipation of the meal-to-come. Though it resembled somewhat of a human, he knew that it was a lot more powerful than that – and definitely a lot more dangerous. Then again, that's how a lot of vicious demons were. They showed no mercy once they found prey. And tonight, it seemed that the brunette was the prey.

Riku quickly drew a pocket knife from his pocket and unfolded it, charging at the demon. Jumping onto its back, he dug his pocket knife as deep as he could into the demon's shoulder. He winced at the loud shriek that escaped the demon's lips, its thick legs pushing off of the ground and towards the side of a building. It dug long, sharp claws into the side and shook itself, trying to rid itself of the vampire clinging onto his shoulders. Despite being shaken, Riku didn't let go and continued to hold on. He pulled out another pocket knife and dug it into the demons' back, wincing again at the second shriek. Damn, he hated these things...

The demon pushed off the side of the building and landed on the ground again, turning its head as it tried to snap at Riku. Its red eyes focused solely on him as it reached up and scratched at Riku's back, making the silver-haired male grunt. Still, he didn't let go and instead wrapped his arms tightly around the demon's thick neck to the point that it constricted its airways. The demon let out a gurgling sound before it began to thrash around again, sounding as if it was a dog choking. Riku's stomach twisted as he heard a faint shout, looking down to see the brunette lying still with his head against a crate. If he could just get a good hold on the demon... He tightened his grip even more and the demon dug its claws into the ground, shaking its back. Riku pushed his leg against the wall nearest to him and pushed as hard as he could, sending both him and the demon toppling over. He wrapped his legs around the demon's upper torso and pulled it upwards so that he cut circulation to the arms, knowing that in this position, the demon couldn't reach back. He hooked his elbow around its neck and pulled tightly, grabbing his arm and pulling to help in this.

The demon struggled against its holdings and tried to stand, but found that with no matter what it did, it couldn't get Riku to let go. It finally got its footing and stood up, thrashing around again, though the movements were much weaker than before. The vampire glanced over at the brunette to see that he was moving again and sitting up, holding his head. He squeezed the neck even tighter as he held on with his legs, waiting for the demon to finally collapse. When it did, he found himself underneath the unconscious creature. He wriggled his way out from underneath it and jogged a few feet away before he turned towards it and examined it. He looked up as he heard a cry that sounded like a bird's screech mixed in with a howl, knowing that this one was probably older. He looked over at the brunette and frowned. "You better get out of here. This one's only the baby. Mom's gonna be pissed as hell when she finds him," he warned. He had fought these things many times to know that the mother and child were very close and had a taste for human and vampire flesh. He knew there was only one way to defeat them, but his pocket knives couldn't do the trick.

He groaned when he realized that the brunette didn't move, though he froze when he saw a large black form behind him. He ran over to the brunette and quickly grabbed him and held him close, jumping back just in time to avoid the clawed hand that went crashing down, sending cracks across the pavement. Another screech was let out, this one filled with anger and a lust for blood and death. "As I said, Mom's gonna be pissed!" he shouted as he shifted the brunette in his arms so that he was carrying him bridal style. He jumped out of the way again and onto a crate, watching as the baby slowly began to stir. He rolled his eyes and set the brunette down. "Get on my back," he said as he turned around only to get a defiant 'no' from the other. He frowned deeply and looked over at the other. "Well, why not? I'm trying to save your ass!" he snapped.

The brunette sighed and shook his head. "Which I don't need. I'm perfectly fine by myself. I don't know what you have mistaken me for, but I'm no human. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you," he explained with a deep frown. Only then did Riku notice the lingering scent underneath the scent of cinnamon. His eyes widened in realization, but he soon remembered about the mother demon and grabbed the brunette's arm, pulling him forward just in time. Instead of a scream, he was thankful to hear the rip of fabric and the crash of the crate and concrete.

"Well, then, try to keep up," Riku replied before he jumped onto one of the taller crates and then over a fence. He glanced back to see the brunette copy his actions, taking off down the alley soon after. He grabbed the lamppost as he came onto the street, using it swing himself around the corner and down the street. He glanced around at the empty street, realizing that all the humans were probably asleep at this time. He looked back at the brunette to see that he was still following, though the demon wasn't too far behind. And damn, did it look angry. He darted down the next street and effortlessly jumped through the window, ignoring the glass that shattered to the ground. His eyes already adjusted to the darkness of the store, he grabbed two longswords from a display and drew each blade against his palm, watching as a red line came across it. "Good, it's actually sharp."

He tossed one at the brunette and grabbed another, testing it on his palm again. He then heard the crash of glass from behind him and looked to see the demon eying him. He said nothing before he ran towards the demon with the swords at the ready. He ducked underneath the demon's sweeping arm and plunged the sword as deep as he could into the left side of the demon's chest. Letting out an ear-splitting screech, the demon scraped at the sword protruding from her chest, though she couldn't seem to get it out. Instead, she only moved it inside of her.

Riku jumped back as one of the arms came crashing down towards him, glancing over at the brunette to see him fend off the younger demon. "Stab it's heart. Stab the heart and it'll die. Anything can die that way," he instructed. The brunette nodded tried to do as he was instructed only to be blocked. Riku let out a shout when he felt claws dig into his side and lift him off the ground. Not even a split second later and the sword had already been cast away. He knew that he wouldn't be able to do anything with the mother holding his body as she was. He reached up with his free hands and tried to pry the claws out of his body, but it was futile. He soon felt himself being flung to the side, letting out a grunt as he smashed through glass containers and collided into the wall, feeling both swords and glass alike dig into his skin. He fell to the ground, shaking as he got onto his hands and knees. He muttered a string of profanity, but said 'I'm fine' when he was asked if he was okay.

He stood up and shook off the glass remaining, reaching back to pull out the swords that had embedded themselves into his back. He let out an almost soundless grunt as he pulled them out, feeling his back sting at the feeling. He soon found two katana in his hand and twirled them around a bit. These would have to do... Ignoring the stinging pain in his back, he darted over to the mother just as she was about to swing at the brunette, putting all the force he could muster into swinging at her arm. The mother let out a screech of pain as her hand fell to the ground, staggering backwards and holding her severed wrist. She glared at Riku with blood red eyes before she let out another, even angrier screech.

She charged towards the silver-haired male, but he quickly jumped out of the way of her swinging, drawing both blades across her eyes. With another screech, the mother closed her eyes and tried to shake away the pain, though it clearly didn't work. With blood streaming from her eyes as if they were tears, she stopped screeching only when she heard her baby wail, turning her head in the direction of the sound with her pointed ears completely erect. Riku took this chance and jumped towards her, but grimaced at the sound of crunching glass as he pushed off the ground. He swung at the mother, but only managed to slice into her ear, realizing that she had heard him and he had given her enough time to move out of the way. He looked over at the brunette to see him pulled a sword out of the baby's chest, but decided to ignore him. His eyes widened as he saw a clawed hand swing at him, though he couldn't do anything about it. There was no possible way he could suddenly change direction while in mid-air.

He let out a grunt as he felt claws dig deeply into his back and almost protrude out the other side, knowing that he probably broke a few bones just now. Even for a vampire, it would take a while to get those healed. He dropped the swords in his hands, finding himself shaking due to the amount of pain. Because of how many wounds riddled his skin and how he hadn't fed in quite a few days, his wounds couldn't heal as fast as they usually could. Not only that, but he was a relatively slow healer compared to most vampires and one of her claws felt as if it was pretty damn close to his heart. He watched as the mother brought her hand towards her, feeling rather limp with her claws pretty much through him. He knew this was probably going to be the end. This type of demon had always been the sworn enemy of vampires. They always preyed off of them. They always killed them. No vampire could regenerate from the damage that these beasts could do due to their saliva. Just as vampires had a special chemical in their saliva that helped humans heal quickly after feeding off of them as to not leave evidence, these demons had a special chemical that stopped the quick regeneration. Their stomach acid, however, stopped any regeneration whatsoever, making it one of the only ways a vampire could truly be killed. Well, besides the traditional heart-stabbing, that is.

He watched as the mother slowly opened her mouth and pulled back her lips, revealing her pointed teeth. A tongue snaked out and he had to close his eyes to avoid saliva getting into his eyes as the mother prepared to eat its newly found meal by first coating it in saliva to make sure that it wouldn't be able to gain strength. The tongue quickly pulled away after going over both of his arms as he heard a screech, a foul-smelling odor of decaying flesh filling his nose more than what it already was. He let out a grunt as he felt something plunge into his stomach, though he soon found the floor against his side. He tried to curl up, but found that he couldn't. He looked down to see a large sword dug deeply into his stomach. Great... Now he had another thing to take out. "I found that in the back," he heard from behind him. He moved his eyes to see the brunette leaning over him, feeling warm hands brush over his skin as they check ed the wounds. In a way, it was very soothing, but it hurt at the same time because of the sweat getting into the wounds.

Riku sighed deeply and closed his eyes, letting his body remain limp. "You managed to stab me as well," he said with a frown. "But thanks." He had some close encounters with these types of demons before, but he had never been this close to true death before. He listened as the brunette hummed in reply and said a small 'you're welcome.' He winced as he felt the claws being ripped out of his back, clenching his teeth and fists as tight as he could. He felt hands push on his stomach, sliding his body backwards. He lout a grunt as the blade slid out of him, letting out a shaky breath in an attempt to calm himself. Unfortunately, it didn't work too well. "Ouch," he said with a deep frown, finding nothing else to say. The brunette muttered a small apology.

"What's your name?" the brunette asked as he carefully picked up the silver-haired male. He made sure not to agitate the wounds too much, though he knew that he couldn't do much about it. He looked down to see the demon dissolving into ash and be swept away by a small breeze that picked up.

Riku soon felt himself being carried out of the sword shop, though he didn't really care. He was in too much pain to care. He quietly murmured his name before he asked for the brunette's. He hummed as he heard the name come from the other's lips, repeating it softly. "Sora..." he said softly. "Thanks." Not too long after he said this, a numbness came over him and his senses faded completely.

l_~*~*~_l

A cool sensation slid up his arm and then back down and then back up again. He had no idea what it was, but it sure was soothing. With each stroke, he could feel his muscles relax even more, though they tensed when he felt the cool sensation slide over open wounds. He winced at the feeling and let out a small grunt of disapproval, but kept his eyes closed. He felt gentle hands lift his arm up by the wrist and then turn the arm over, setting it back down again. He remained completely limp and let the cool feeling rush over his skin again. Wait... Cool feeling? That meant it was probably ice cold. He frowned at this thought and finally opened his eyes. He could smell rusty nails, decaying boards, and a slight scent of the rain along with the slight stench of rat urine. However, when he had opened his eyes, he was greeted by a pitch black veil. That wasn't right... Even if he was asleep, his eyes should've adjusted to little light. Where was he? He sat up and felt the cool sensation pull away from his arm, though he was instantly greeted with a sharp pain in his ribs. He grunted and placed a hand on his chest, waiting for the pain to subside before he finally went to trying to figure out where he was. He pushed down to feel exactly what he was lying on, hearing springs creak underneath the new pressure.

"Glad to see you're finally awake," he heard from his right. He turned his head towards the speaker, but found nothing. He lifted his hands to his eyes and lightly traced his fingers over them, though he was surprised to feel cloth. He frowned deeply and traced the cloth back to the back of his head and felt the knot in the fabric; a blindfold. He swatted away the hand that touched his arm and went to untying the blindfold. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he heard as he felt a hand grab his own and pull it away from the blindfold. "It's broad daylight. You take it off now and you'll definitely have a headache."

Riku looked towards the voice again with a frown, placing his hands in his lap, though his left elbow ended up hitting some type of fabric. He ran his hands up and down what he was sitting on to realize that he was on a couch; and an old one with holes, at that. "Where am I?" he finally asked, feeling his voice crack. Damn... He needed something to drink. Water, blood, anything. Just something to get his dry throat to fade. He heard a light sigh and felt the cool sensation travel up his arm. Only when he felt small droplets roll down his forearm did he notice that it was probably a rag soaked in water.

"We're about a block away from where you passed out last night. I didn't know where you lived, so I took you here," he heard the other explain. "If you don't remember, I'm Sora, the one you've been watching." The silver-haired male opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off when Sora explained each and every detail he had picked up on that had lead him to conclude that he was being watched. Though he did state that he didn't know why he was being watched, he didn't ask and just explained how after he had seen Riku on the top of the building, he had begun to piece everything together.

The vampire hummed lightly and turned his head away, tilting it downwards and closing his eyes. He knew that he would have no use for his eyes, considering that he couldn't see anything to begin with. If the blindfold was off, he'd have trouble seeing, anyway, if what Sora said was true. It was only then that he could feel his skin warming up even more where the cloth hadn't been in a few minutes, coming to the conclusion that sunlight was probably filtering in through a window and directly onto him, which had then warmed up his skin. Well, that explained why the cloth seemed so cool compared to his skin temperature.

He let out a deep sigh and shook his head, reaching over and feeling his fingers lightly brush over skin. Unsure of what he was feeling, he pressed his fingers against the skin and traced over the features lightly. Only after he felt his fingers trace over lips did he pull his hand away and raise it higher before bringing it down a bit, feeling hair. Surprisingly, it was actually soft and not as hard as it looked. He patted the top of Sora's head. "Well, thanks for helping me, but I have to go back home soon," he said as he turned his head towards the brunette, pulling his hand away. The question he heard next caught him completely off guard.

"And how exactly do you plan on getting there? Every scent was washed away when it rained last night."

He hadn't thought about that... He couldn't walk in daylight. Well, he could, but he wouldn't be able to see within about ten minutes due to a persistent and very powerful headache. He couldn't smell his way back because he had nothing to go by, judging by what Sora had said. He let out a deep sigh and shook his head, but didn't say anything. He was never one to really admit defeat, so why start now? There was no way he was going to give up his pride, definitely not now, when he was already at a disadvantage. He turned his head when he heard a small chuckle and the creak of boards.

"Thought so."

He frowned as he heard those simple two words and lifted his hand, making a fist before he straitened his middle finger. He let out a yelp when he felt a hand hit the back of his head and reached up to rub the sore spot. Damn, it hurt even more when there was a knot on the back of your head! He groaned softly before he 'glared' up at where he thought the brunette was only to hear a chuckle from his left. He looked over and was about to speak, but decided it was best not to and just looked away, trying to ignore the pain that now racked his body from sitting hunched over like this. He crossed his arms over his stomach, feeling a sticky liquid seep through his clothes and onto his pale arms. Instantly, he knew what it was. Even though he was a vampire, he still bled. The only way to replace that blood and keep his body moving and healing was to drink blood of some type of creature as long as it wasn't a demon's. A demon's blood was like poison to a vampire and could shut down the body completely. Vampire may be considered immortal, but they weren't invincible. And Riku knew this all too well.

Feeling hands push on his shoulders lightly, he leaned back and laid against the couch, taking in a sharp breath. Though he didn't need the air taken in, he still did so to express certain emotions and discomforts as a habit. He rested his hand on his stomach as he frowned deeply, biting the inside of his cheek. Damn, it hurt... He didn't think that it would really hurt this bad. Then again, he was pretty sure his ribs were broken after that blow by the mother. Not only that, but he had a large gaping hole in the middle of his stomach. Because of the saliva, it had slowed his regeneration. Even cleaning the wounds thoroughly wouldn't help to the full extent, considering that the saliva consisted of chemicals that quickly spread through the body and invaded cells. Only when the chemicals finally wore off would the wounds be able to heal at their normal speed.

He muttered a string of curse words when he felt pain shoot through his whole body after shifting only a hair to the left. He needed to get home. He needed to get home now. Not only were there certain doctors specialized in this sort of thing, but Rufus would sure be pissed if he just disappeared for a few days. At this thought, a small groan escaped his lips, though the cool rag traveling his arm once again helped him calm down and relax. "I have to go back soon... I don't care if I get a headache, I have to go home. If I don't, Lord Rufus will tear up this whole town looking for me," he said with a heavy sigh. "So if you don't mind..."

"As I said, you have no way of getting there."

"Which is why you're going to help me."

A small pause in the conversation soon took place. To what Riku could gather, the brunette was probably thinking about it. Finally, after what seemed to be quite a few minutes, the brunette finally agreed and asked where exactly the coven house was. After providing the information, Sora helped the silver-haired male to his feet, though a sharp pain racked his body yet again. Riku let out a grunt and wrapped his arm around Sora's shoulders, feeling a hand grabbed his wrist. He muttered even more curses as he slowly followed the other's lead, having to take deep breaths to calm himself and keep himself from screaming at the pain. He took deep breaths from his mouth, but soon closed it and breathed deeply from his nose, pausing as the scent of cinnamon came to his nose, along with another scent.

He then sighed and shook his head. "Well, you're not human, I can tell that much. But you're not a vampire, either. You have a heartbeat and your skin's warm," he said as he turned his head towards the brunette. The only reason he was really bringing the subject up instead of staying silent was to keep his mind off of the pain, though it did seem to be subsiding. He heard a small hum that told him to continue and looked in front of him again, hearing broken glass crunch beneath his feet. "What exactly are you? A demon?" he asked, keeping his eyes closed so that the fabric wouldn't bother them. A moment of silence slipped between the two before he heard a small sigh and felt his skin warm up even more, indicating that they were now out of the building.

"I... don't know," was Sora's soft reply. "I don't know what I am. I'm not a demon, I'm not a werewolf, I'm not a vampire... I just don't know." He then went to explain how he had been changed only 25 years ago, at the age of 15. The one who had changed him gave no explanation and just left him with a blood lust that had faded after feeding the first week, disappearing without a single trace. He gave no explanation of what he was, what he was supposed to do, or why he was chosen to be changed out of the blue. Once he had gotten the blood lust completely under control, he had noticed a small mark just above his naval, though he couldn't tell exactly what it was. However, after he was changed, as he soon began to explain, he had been hunted by demons, vampires, and werewolves alike. He even had a few vampires feed off of him at one point, causing him to flee from his home country, which he had then pointed out to be Japan.

Riku hummed lightly as he listened to every word the brunette beside him spoke, trying to piece everything together. He couldn't think of any demon that possibly did that. He opened his mouth to reply, but he ended up stumbling over rubble that had been in his way, letting out a shout of pain as he nearly collapsed, pain shooting through his whole body, though the most pain came from his ribs. He felt himself lower to the ground with Sora asking if he was alright, shaking as he held his ribs. "M-maybe I sh-shouldn't go t-to th-the coven house j-just yet," the silver-haired male stuttered, trying to get the feeling under control.

He wasn't sure of the conversation that had taken place, but he knew enough to know that he was heading to what Sora called the "secret place". During the whole way, all he could really do is grit his teeth and hold his chest and stomach. He couldn't even tell what the other was saying to him, though he nodded each and every time he was asked if he was okay. He couldn't even tell where he was going anymore, stumbling over even his own feet at points. His senses kept scrambling themselves and making him sense things that weren't there or completely ignore other things without his saying so.

He barely listened in as the brunette spoke, but realized what he had said when he heard the voice echo and his head ran into something that felt like rock. He groaned as he forced himself to bend forward so he could make it underneath the obstacle with ease. He stumbled through what seemed to be a tunnel before felt himself being lowered again, feeling his ribs burn in protest. He let out a drawn out sigh as he finally allowed his body to relax, though he soon realized that he was tightly clenching his shirt. He felt a hand support the back of his head as it was lifted and the blindfold was removed, finally opening his eyes. He blinked and squinted, however, as light flooded his vision, quickly moving his arm so that the inside of his elbow covered his eyes. "Sorry. I forgot to cover the holes," he heard. He merely grunted in response, his jaw still clenched tightly shut, though the pain was finally subsiding. Still, it felt like there were a million daggers digging into his ribs. He soon heard the sound of cloth rustling and let out a small sigh, pulling his arm away from his eyes. He opened them again, but mainly stared at the cave ceiling above him. He knew that he'd probably have to stay there for at least another day... There was no way he could possibly walk back, not with wounds like these.


End file.
